Wednesday, June 07, 2017

Walking Backwards : Celluloid Scotland - The Land Of Grainy Dreams

These photographs are taken from a group of negatives which, I suspect, were the last negatives I ever took and that would place them around 1999 or there abouts. I made the transition to digital photography very early and by then I had been using digital cameras for many years, but on a trip to the highlands of Scotland I decided to get my old film camera out and give celluloid photography a final outing. Thus armed with a few cassettes of monochrome film, I took a train up to Inverness, Kingussie and Dundee, and these dark and moody shots were the outcome. I must confess that, even now, nostalgia prompts me to dig out my old film camera and even check out suppliers of 35mm film. There is something about the physical act of loading the film and moving it on which, I suspect, reminds me of youth.

But, of course, I don't. It's too heavy, cumbersome, slow and restrictive. I reach for whatever trillion megapixel postage-stamp sized camera I am using at the time and consign celluloid to the land of dreams. The dark, grainy, evocative land of celluloid dreams.

About Me

One time lecturer, writer on European Affairs and bus conductor, Alan Burnett now divides his time between walking the dog and a little harmless blogging. His News From Nowhere Blog has been running since 2006 and acts as a showcase for his ranting and writing and his photographs old and new.